Fear of Missing Out is a documentary series presented by young people living in the UK, about the bits of British History that people aren’t talking about enough.
Over 6 episodes, FOMO delves into the history of British Colonialism, media reporting of queer communities, The Police, segregated education in Northern Ireland, British activism and Scottish politics. FOMO is an accessible, in depth look at the UK’s colonial, religious and political history, through the eyes of those it impacts the most.
FOMO is Audio Content Fund supported, and will also be broadcast in September 2022 on a network of 19 community and/or online radio stations across the UK. Full list of stations below!
Full list of stations – check station websites for their broadcast schedules:
3TFM – Saltcoats
Awaz FM – Glasgow
Castlesound Radio – Stirling
KCC Live – Liverpool
Liverpool Community Radio
Melodic Distraction – Liverpool
Radio Northumberland
Redroad FM – Rotherham
Resonance FM – London
Revolution Radio – Northampton
Rhubarb Radio – Wakefield
Sheffield Live!
Sonder Radio – Manchester
Sunny Govan Radio – Glasgow
Smart Radio – Great Yarmouth
Soundart Radio – Totnes
Steel FM – North Lincolnshire
Switch Radio – Birmingham
Tempo 107.4FM – Wetherby
FOMO Production Team:
Producer: Jesse Lawson
Assistant Producers: Anton Ferrie and Hanna Adan
Executive Producer: Steve Urquhart
Music: Maia Miller-Lewis
Artwork: Tobi Malomo
Mixing: Mike Woolley
FOMO Advisory Board
A huge thank you to Arlie Adlington, Elly Robson, Emmanuella Kwenortey, Lynette Nora Onek and Imani Mason Jordan AKA the FOMO Advisory Board. Each member of the board has a different relationship to the material as an audio producer / historian / young person / artist. They listened to episode edits and provided really helpful editorial feedback.
Historical Consultants
To ensure the accuracy of the history in each episode, we consulted with Historians who have specialist knowledge in the subject matter. A huge thank you to Meleisa Ono-George, Syeda Ali, Megan McElhone, Gavin Duffy, Pat Thane and Richard Finlay for their vital insights to this series.
Episodes:
Ep 1 Atlanta
17 year old Atlanta spent the first few years of her life living in Uganda, where her mum is from. Now she lives in Glasgow, Atlanta feels like the version of British History she’s learnt paints the UK in a pretty positive light? Loads of her friends don’t even know about the British Empire – they didn’t learn about it in school. Atlanta asks: Is it possible to know the truth of what happened in the past, or is history different, depending on who’s telling the story?
Ep 2 Felix
Felix is a 20 year old playwright, poet and performer from Liverpool. He came out as trans when he was 14 and, in his words, it has become harder, not easier, to be a young out trans person in the public eye. Felix looks at the history of how queer people have been presented in the UK media, to try and contextualise how trans people are spoken about in the media today.
Ep 3 Halima
In March 2022, a report came out about Child Q: a 15 year old black secondary school student from London, who was strip searched by the police in her own school. 22 year old Halima moved to England from Ireland when they was 14. Hearing about Child Q felt like a breaking point for her own resilience to racism in the UK. Halima looks into the history of the criminalisation of black communities in the UK, which for Halima – and Child Q – started at school.
Ep 4 Beth
Beth is 16 and goes to a Catholic Secondary School in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Recently, Beth found out that the history she’s taught is different to that taught in the Protestant secondary school down the street. Beth looks into the history of education segregated by religion in Northern Ireland.
Ep 5 India
India is a 21 year old student, content creator and activist from Bath. India is passionate about her activism, which focuses on anti-racism and intersectional feminism. But, often, India kind of feels like they’re just making things up as they go along? India interviews four activists involved in actions in the 1980s – the Greenham Common Peace Camp, The Miners Strike, Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and The Toxteth Uprising – to make her very own ‘How To’ Guide to Activism.
Ep 6 Tom + Mikaela
Dundee-based Tom and Mikaela are 20 and 21, meaning they were too young to vote in the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum. As the debate rages over a second Referendum on Scottish Independence, Tom and Mikaela look back at Scotland’s recent political history – the 1979, 1997 and 2014 referendums – to try and work out how they might vote in the future.
JESSE LAWSON 